Toy.



' No. 709,ll7. Patented Sept. '6, I902.

J. B. SLUANE.

TOY.

(Applicaticn flied Nov. 26, 1900.)

(No Model.)

WITNESSES: I w INVLNTQR Wit M/ l'nn Slwcn'ke UNITED STATES 'ATENT OFFICE.

JOHN SLOANE, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO WILLARD E. PARDRIDGE, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

TOY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 709,117, dated September 16, 1902.

Application filed November 26, 1900. Serial No. 37,767. (No model.)

To (all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN B. SLOANE, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in '1oys,of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to improvements in toys of the class in which jointed figures are used; and its object is to provide a figure representing a man having jointed or pivoted legs and arms and suspended by suit-able means above a vibratory board, whereby the operator may manipulate the figure and. the vibrations of the board and so time the same that the sound given off by the contact of the feet of the figure with the board will very closely resemble that of clog-dancin g; and its object is also to provide such invention with certain other new and useful features, all of which are hereinafter more fully described, and particularly pointed outin the claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of my device, illustrating the manner of operating the same. Fig. 2 is a perspective view, on a larger scale, showing the operation and the manner in which the dancing figure and the board may be supported.

Like letters refer to like parts in both figures.

A is the dancing figure, consisting of a head and body portion a, to which the legs I) are pivoted at b and the arms (1 at d, the foot portions 0 being pivoted to theleg portions 1) at 0. These parts are all cut or stamped from a fiat sheet of metal and pivoted together by rivets. The figure A is pivotally suspended from a wire B, which may be held in the hand of the operator, as shown in Fig. 1, or said wire may be bent at right angles and inserted in an opening therefor in the block O or other suitable support. A thin flexible strip, preferably of hard wood, forms the vibrating board D to contact the feet of the figure A, which board is supported at one end by the chair upon which the operator sits and held thereon by the operator sitting upon it, as shown in Fig. 1, or it may be secured to the block O, as shown in Fig. 2, the opposite end being left free to vibrate.

To cause the figure to dance, it is held with its feet in contact or just above the vibrating end of the board D and the board set in mo tion by the operator. At each vibration the board will strike the feet of the figure a sud den blow and immediately recede therefrom,

thus producing a sound and causing the movable parts of the figure to change position, so that when struck in the next succeeding vibration a different sound and motion will be produced,and by regulating the distance between the board and the feet of the figure and the vibrations of the board the operator is able to time the contacts of the feet with the board and regulate the nu mberthereof, so as to produce a sound very similar to that of clog-dancing. This peculiar sound is due to the sudden blows of the hard-wood board against the movable parts of the metal figure, the changed position of the different parts at each succeeding contact, and the regularity and frequency of such blows. When the wire B and board D are supported bythe block O, as shown in Fig. 2, the distance between the figure and the board and the vibrations of the board are regulated by the hands of the operator the same as before, the block serving only as a support.

Considerable skill is required in operating the device, it requiring a steady hand, a good eye to determine the proper distance at which the figure should be held from the board, and a good ear to time the blows of the board, and therefore my device is instructive as well as amusing.

It is deemed important that the point of connection of the free end of the wire B with the figure be in substantially the central vertical line through the figu re and that the horizontal portion of the wire be in substantial parallel relation with the board D, the fixed end of the wire being at substantially right angles to the board and to the horizontal portion of the wire, as shown, as by this means the figure is at all times suspended substantially at right angles to the board, and the resilioncy is evenly distributed throughout the whole length of the wire and a greater variance in the sound at each vibration of the board is obtained.

It is deemed important that the wire B be held in the block and passed through the board, as in this manner the wire not only serves to hold the board against lateral movement on the block, but the wire at its free end remains parallel with the board and its other end partakes of the vibrations of the board, and thus additional agitation of the figure will be had.

Having thus fullydescribed my invention, what I claim is- In a toy, the combination of a supportingblock, a wire inserted in an opening therein and extending upward a distance, bent at right angles and extended laterally substantially parallel with the board, a figure having pivoted legs and arms, pivotally suspended from the outer end of said Wire the pivot being in vertical line with the center of the said figure, and a flexible board secured at one end to said block and adapted to vibrate to engage said figure, at the opposite end.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

JOHN B. SLOANE.

Witnesses:

OTTO F. BARTHEL, JOSEPH A. NOELKE. 

